Gallium nitride (GaN) is a wide band gap semiconductor material that has been widely explored for its beneficial properties relating to micro-electronic devices including, but not limited to, transistors, light emitting diodes (LED), and high-power transistor devices. Currently, GaN is grown directly on non-native substrates such as silicon substrates. Substantial lattice mismatch occurs when GaN is grown on non-native substrates. Lattice mismatch causes threading dislocation defects to propagate within the epitaxially grown GaN material. Currently, conventional solutions grow high quality GaN layers by lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) where high quality GaN is grown laterally (<100> direction) over a non-GaN substrate from an adjacent trench.